Week In The Life™ 2014 | Monday Words & Photos

My first thought tonight, as I sit down to write about the day and work through the photos, is that I'm thankful.

I'm thankful for a million different things but one of the big things today is simply the ability to capture pieces of my life through my lens.

It's a simple thing that I sometimes take for granted as I get caught up in this or that. I love being able to use my camera to tell the stories of our lives.

Before I share my photos for today I've got some general observations on the process:

One of my favorite things to do with this project is go through the photos at the end of the day. I love seeing what went right (in terms of captures) and what didn't quite go right. Ha. When I go through my photos I know without a doubt that I won't use more than one shot of the same thing. I delete the ones I will not be using.

There were some things I tried to capture today that just didn't come out right. For example, getting Anna to school. Almost all were blurry - too blurry to use. I made a note to myself to capture more of that process tomorrow.

I definitely don't try to capture every little detail of the day. I took more photos today with people in the shot vs. photos without people. As you'll see, I took a lot of self-timer shots.

I'm really conscious about light and the way things are lit/where light sources are coming from. I'm on the look out for interesting light and I'm really enjoying playing around with getting my camera to do what I want it to do. This project encourages me to experiment and I like that.

I also liked thinking through the lens of story today as well. I didn't feel as frantic as I sometimes do and I was less lax than usual in terms of writing down stuff as it was happening.

MONDAY PHOTOS & STORIES

Today began with my alarm at 5am. I took the shot at the top of the post holding out my Canon 5D and praying I didn't drop it on my head. Grabbing my phone is often the first thing I do since it's my alarm and as I was reading over some of my early morning emails I was thinking about how the iPhone was so bright in a very dark room and wondered if I could use it to light my face. I got up out of bed, grabbed my camera, got back into bed and took a couple shots (not using the timer, just holding it out and clicking the button).

Ah, yeah.

And hey, when you're the only one in the house you gotta make it happen for yourself.

The story of my morning today is that I wanted to get up earlier than the kids. I like that quiet time. It's a bit earlier than normal because when I'm doing this project I often need a bit more time to get my other projects done.

And did I say I like the quiet time?

The story of Anna's morning, which began about 6:40am, is that she found Hannah Montana on Netflix.

This school year I'm doing things a bit different in the morning. Simon, as he gets older, needs a bit more sleep. I'm letting him sleep in while Anna gets up and dressed and I get her to school. By the time I'm back Simon is up and has made himself breakfast and is dressed and ready for the day.

Did you read what I wrote above about not getting any decent shots of getting Anna to school. I kinda like the motion and movement in this one.

The story of today includes notes-to-self.

I took a bunch of shots in the car, telling the story of the time I spend driving the kids to and from school. For these shots I set the camera on the dashboard and turn on the timer.

I get what I get.

The story of today includes a boy who might have slept in a little later than he was supposed to but pulled it all together and out the door on time.

The story of today includes a stop at the grocery story after getting the kids to school.

That would be a self-timer self-portrait in the grocery store. I set the camera on the floor and hit the button and walked over to grab the Teriyaki sauce from the shelf.

And one in the parking lot.

I like the experimentation of these shots. They aren't perfectly composed. They don't have a perfect focal point. But they show pieces of my day.

The story of today includes the fact that I spent all my working hours sitting right here.

Except when I went downstairs for lunch.

And when I took a iPhone selfie after putting on my hat.

The story of today includes no shower (at least at the time of typing this up).

And the story of today wouldn't be complete without mentioning that Katie is gone this week as she spends time with her family awaiting the arrival of her first niece. Katie rocks with babies. That's going to be one lucky baby to have her for an Auntie.

The story of today includes a kid who loves when I pick him up from school. Big, full smile.

The story of today includes a kid who loves when I pick her up from school.

In her case it's actually the after-care at school - she loves it and asks to go every day.

The story of today includes an effort to get the three of us together in a shot. Fun counts.

Anna introducing Simon to Hannah Montana.

Seriously.

The story of today includes picking up Simon's new glasses. First pair.

The story of today includes boxes piled in the garage.

The story of today includes grass that's still green and leaves that are falling.

The story of today includes this cat, George Washington Edwards.

The story of today includes this Dad, who came to pick up the kids to take them to dinner with his parents to celebrate his Dad's birthday.

The story of today includes this guy, who came over to have sushi with me and then make cookies.

We both ate the sushi. I made the cookies.

The story of today includes a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors for who gets to sleep in my bed with me tonight. He won. She gets tomorrow night.

The story of today includes the bedtime prayer, Anna counting to 100, and Simon reading to me from Harry Potter.

Both are timer shots I set up myself by placing my camera on a shelf.

LENS OF JOY

Want to learn more about looking through the lens? Join me for
Lens Of Joy.

Designed with the storyteller in mind,
Lens Of Joy is a 4-week photography workshop that covers processes related to capturing life through the lens of your camera. I'll walk you through my personal workflow from picking up the camera, looking through the lens, establishing the story, experiencing the moment, composing, uploading, organizing, editing, printing and pairing the end result with words to tell a more complete story.

Hi Ali!!! I love your photos from yesterday!! I love my photos from yesterday too!!! I also LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your home! Can you remember where you got your little curved sofa by your table? I just love your style and I have an area in our home that NEEDS a sofa like that and just can't seem to find one!! HELP???!!! PLEASE?!!! THANKS!!! Have a GREAT day today!!

I'm not currently doing the Week in the Life project. I just follow along for ideas and inspiration on memory keeping and documenting everyday (mostly because I'm pretty awful at that). Today I stopped by during my 15 minutes snack break at work and as I went through this post I started figuring out what approach would I give to a future "WITL" project. "This is pretty inspiring and informative" -I thought... Until I saw that last picture and read that last story: "Simon reading to me from Harry Potter". I burst into tears, right here in my office. I'm 27 and a fan of Harry Potter and a woman who a few years ago "decided" that didn't want to have kids, ever. But that picture... That little story of you and your son... I don't know... It is not that I've changed my mind about becoming a mother or not in the future, but that story certainly affected me, maybe in a good way. It's been just a few minutes since I read this post and I've already thought so many things about life, about the little details, about the important things we forget to do, about the important things we forget to say... And I'm still crying here maybe because I'm silly or because of PMS, but I'm thankful at the same time. And that's why I keep coming to this Internet space as well as many other inspiring spaces... Thanks for sharing!

I loved your photos and the angles they were shot. I often take lots of pictures but often get stuck in what to say about the everyday stories. I tend to be too wordy. I love a simple sentence, The story of today includes... This is a way for me to get thoughts down and make it short & sweet so I don't stress about the journaling. Thanks Ali for the inspiration.

I've been using my iPhone bcz that's what works for me this week, but seeing your shots makes me want to use my dslr more. I will try.

I just love the shot of George looking on at his kids. You did awesome with getting yourself in shots! Sometimes I get too embarrassed to take my own photo in public! I like that WITL forces me to overcome some insecurities!

I just saw that you said how many pictures you took yesterday. I went back to look at mine and I have about 90 with my big camera and a few with my phone. So you have 200 - you took 200 to get these few amazing shots? Or are they all this amazing? Are these the ones you plan to use? Do you delete the extras from your camera or in iPhoto? What's your process of weeding through that many photos every day? I tend to take a few and delete the ones I don't want right then - looking back through them on my camera and choosing the one I like.

Definitely 200 to get these. Each of these comes from 3-4 ones I didn't use that are of the same thing. Not sure which ones I will actually use in the album - I think about that later on :). I definitely delete the extras. In my new workshop I'll be going step by step (via video) through my process - how I select, edit, delete, etc. You should check it out: https://aliedwards.com/shop/classes/lens-of-joy

Britiney says…

10/28/2014

Thanks, Ali! I did click over to your lens of joy class info today and am definitely super interested. Need to see if I can swing it financially. Hope I can make it work. I know I have a lot to learn!

I agree moncoff. I have been yelled at a couple of times already in stores NOT TO TAKE PHOTOS!! Felt bad, but really???

AliEdwards says…

10/28/2014

Here's my take on this topic.

1. I want to be respectful of spaces and places. If someone doesn't want me to take a photo at the store, I understand and I move on. I don't do it everyday :).
2. I think the only way to get past feeling self-conscious about it is to do it - get out there and try it and then try again. I always feel a little funny, but then I get over it and 15 years from now these are the kinds of shots I love - they show me out and about doing my stuff.

As I look through your photos, I am missing the early years with my girls. They are both grown now and many days I don't even see them even though they still live in my house. I am missing the routines that go along with my kids. The excitement. The things that you do each week that centre around their activities and antics. My life is looking pretty plain without them. I guess this is a reminder to be more purposeful in developing who I am now without my kids.

Love the photos! I was wondering if you've ever looked at getting a Sony QX 10 lens for your iphone? I didn't know they existed until I won one in a scrapping competition. It s a lens that can clip on to your phone or set on something that is controlled thru an app on your phone. You can take pictures or movies. Makes your phone have a better zoom and a higher resolution. I never thought it would make that big of difference in how I take photos but it has given me a little more flexibility in getting the shots I want to capture but still be compact. Have a great day!